Download The AIAA Rocky Mountain Section`s First Annual Technical

The AIAA Rocky Mountain Section’s First Annual Technical Symposium
The AIAA Rocky Mountain Section’s inaugural Annual Technical Symposium (ATS) took place in the
Ricketson Auditorium at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on October 26th, with a snow
covered City Park, Denver’s Skyline, and a faint glimpse of the Rocky Mountains serving as a back-drop.
With an ambitious number of presentations, an outstanding facility and an eagerness for networking,
the symposium was an immense success.
The day started early, with sponsors setting up displays and volunteers stuffing ‘goody bags’, trying to
stay ahead of an early arriving crowd; nearly 100 by mid-morning. Our RM Section Chair-Elect, Roger
McNamara, kicked things off with a warm welcome and provided thanks to the event’s sponsors and
volunteer workers, who were instrumental in the event’s success. He credited a “Team of Young
Professionals” – Heather McKay, Lisa Holowinski and Jerad Ellenberger – for pulling the day together.
Pamela Burke’s contributions were invaluable as well. The theme for the symposium was “Game
Changing Technologies and Strategies – Collaboration to Explore Burgeoning Technology Horizons,” with
the goal of initiating a local forum for networking and discussing technical topics. Goal achieved! He
pointed out how the diverseness of the day’s topics is rare for AIAA events, as most are focused on a
single area of interest, rather than geographically based.
Following Roger, the Section’s Programs Chair Chris Zeller assumed control as the day’s emcee. He and
Lisa Holowinski did an excellent job keeping the presentations on schedule; not an easy task with so
many interesting topics (20 presentations and 3 keynote speakers) and an inquisitive audience.
With the Ricketson Auditorium adjacent to the museum’s Space Odyssey exhibit, it’s fitting that the
first presentation was “The Self-Refueling Mars Airplane” by James French. Imagine today’s Mars
landers taking-off to explore additional regions of interest and allowing operators to “look” out the
window while in transit! The focus, however, quickly came back to earth with Bob Winn’s presentation
on “New and Advanced Techniques in Aircraft Accident Reconstruction.” He described the latest in
reconstruction techniques, including low cost icing wind tunnels, computed tomography scans (CT
Scans), 3-D computer animations and FARO laser scanning. Returning to a space exploration theme, the
first keynote speaker, Josh Hopkins, presented Lockheed Martin’s vision for “Orion Stepping Stones.”
The concept explores increasingly challenging destinations on the way to Mars, utilizing orbiting
astronauts to teleoperate robots on the Moon’s far side, visiting asteroids, and culminating with remote
operation of robots on Mars, from Deimos! In one application, he explained how signals from the
earliest formation of stars and galaxies can’t be detected on Earth, but by placing radio arrays in the
radio-quiet zone of the lunar far side enables detection. He elicited the biggest laugh of the day when he
remarked we’d now be able to see how, “Our whole universe was in a hot dense state…” Audience
members, obviously fans of the TV show “The Big Bang Theory” immediately recognized the reference.
Somewhere in the middle of the morning presentations, our emcee was able to work in a quick
unscheduled break – allowing participants a second chance at the delicious breakfast snacks and a short,
but productive opportunity for networking.
The day’s second keynote speaker, Lindon Lewis of Ball Aerospace, presented “Large Aperture
Telescopes – Game Changing Technologies.” Mr. Lewis described the weight reducing technologies that
enable larger apertures for space missions, thereby increasing resolution and sensitivity (i.e., better
images). He stated how the James Webb Space Telescope’s (launch in 2018) use of deployable segments
reduces the aperture’s mass by more than 10 times when compared to monolithic technology (e.g.,
Hubble Space Telescope). Furthermore, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is
working on membrane optical technology that increases the improvements afforded by segmented
systems by as much as another 7 times! This provides the ability to deploy arrays of incredible size.
The morning session wrapped up with Ms. Janet Stevens of the Space Foundation describing her
organization’s contributions to furthering space awareness and education. In addition to sponsoring the
premier space policy and program forum, The National Space Symposium, the Foundation publishes
“The Space Report: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity.” Ms. Stevens characterized the key
content of the document and in a thoughtful gesture, offered a free copy for each of the educational
institutions participating at ATS. She and Roger McNamara presented copies to representatives from the
United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), the University of Colorado (CU), and the University of
Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS).
Speaking of educational institutions; what a remarkable group! The three institutions mentioned above
accounted for almost half of the presentations. They’re building hardware, performing modeling and
simulation, and even dreaming up the future. From aeronautical to astronautical research the Front
Range is making vital contributions to future aerospace industry applications. Topics included: reducing
bird strikes through on-board acoustics, demonstrating green propulsion (Hyperion 2.1), achieving
supersonic speeds in an unmanned vehicle (GOJETT), envisioning the cockpit of the future, producing
high temperature gases to model re-entry flows, reproducing the space environment and using liquid
droplets for momentum transfer.
Lunch time offered a chance to re-charge, choosing from a wide assortment of delectable sandwiches
and wraps. The networking continued and many visited the sponsor tables to see what exciting things
they were involved with. The college crowd hovered around the Ball Aerospace table, as they invited an
HR representative (job anyone?). The event staff gathered sponsors and presenters for a photo op with
all sponsors receiving appreciation plaques and presenters receiving certificates. Some members also
visited the museum exhibits, with symposium badges doubling as museum passes. Wandering thru
Space Odyssey, not to mention the full scale replicas of Mars rovers Spirit/Opportunity and Curiosity,
reinforced the relevance of many of the day’s presentations.
The afternoon session began with most attendees feeling like they already experienced a full day of
activity. Only eleven presentations to go! Dennis Heap, Edgar Johansson and Fred Slane presented the
afternoon’s Keynote topic, Space Port Colorado. With a little luck and lots of hard work, the Front Range
Airport east of Denver could one day be home base for future space travelers. The venture is examining
a number of potential horizontal launch configurations and looking at options that will not only put
space tourists into space, but transport cargo and passengers to places around the world in a matter of
minutes. Operations could begin as early as ten years from now. Wow! Imagine watching people
heading into space from our own backyard and maybe even going into space ourselves! They also
mentioned an initiative to bring the national space traffic management capability to Colorado, possibly
based in Colorado Springs. Colorado looks to become a central figure in the future of space
transportation!
A couple of the afternoon presentations offered a glimpse into some neat modeling and simulation
techniques. Both “Putting LiDAR Technology to Work: Mapping our World in 3D” by Harold Cline, and
“Vehicle MASS Properties – Use the Best “Calculator” You Have” by Jennifer Herron provided “teasers”
of their work. The audience definitely seemed interested in seeing more, and these might be worthy
candidates for a future monthly program.
The day’s final speaker, Mr. Tom Bugnitz, representing the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and
Technology, persevered through a day of feeling ill to present “NASA – CAMT Space Act Agreement.”
This agreement accelerates NASA getting its technology into the commercial sector, and Colorado
happens to be the first state NASA selected for its proof of concept. Another feather in Colorado’s cap,
and demonstrates the importance of Colorado to the Nation’s aerospace industry.
While wrapping up the symposium, Chris Zeller reminded everyone the day wasn’t quite over. He again
thanked all of the presenters, the corporate sponsors (Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Ball Aerospace,
Stellar Solutions, Surrey Satellite Technologies, United Launch Alliance, Red Canyon Engineering &
Technologies), supporters (Space Foundation and Colorado Space Business Roundtable), and the
volunteers, including John Eiler and Cindy McNamara. Chris invited everyone to Red Canyon for a
networking social. Of course food, drink (I hear Bristol Brewing Company’s Red Rocket Pale Ale is now
the ‘official’ beer for the Colorado Space Port) and the chance to keep talking about your ideas to your
colleagues is too much for some folks to pass on. Red Canyon’s gracious hospitality and offices inside the
magnificent Grey Stone Castle building rewarded all who stopped by.
If you enjoyed this year’s event, or had hoped to attend, it’s never too soon to think about attending
and/or presenting at the 2nd Annual Technical Symposium, slated for Colorado Springs! Be sure to visit
the RM Section website, www.aiaa-rm.org/ATS , and view some of this year’s presentation materials and
photos. Also look for an ATS article in the January issue of Aerospace America.